Below are examples of cut sections of early rail from the Panama
Railroad mounted on cut cross-sectional pieces of the original 1853
ties made from lignum-vitae,
a very heavy tropical hardwood. (The third example also includes a six-inch
long threaded “spike” used to attach the track to the ties.) While most
of the material for the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad was
delivered to California by ship
around the tip of South America, urgently needed material was also transported
at great expense across the isthmus via the Panama Railroad. Chief Engineer
Theodore D. Judah died shortly
after arriving in New York due to “Panama
Fever” contracted while crossing the Isthmus via the Panama Railroad
in late October, 1863.

Lewis Metzler Clement's
wife, Charlotte Crysler (1835-1883), [married, 1858] rode across the rail
and tie shown above while crossing Panama by rail to reach her husband
who was building the Central Pacific Railroad in California.

Digital photography courtesy Bruce C. Cooper.

Screw Spike, 1910.

Courtesy Susan & Jim Hamm Collection.

"The screw type spike was developed and used during the
early construction period of the Panama Canal. At that time, guaiacum or
lignum vitae was used for the railroad ties. The July, 1911 issue
of the Canal Record, a weekly paper, states: "On
account of the hardness of the wood, the ties have to be bored for the spike.
A special boring and gaining machine is used which adzes the two parallel
faces to form the seat for the tie plate and bores a hole to recieve the
spike are used. This equipment holds the rails to absolute gauge and guards
against a tendency for the rails to spread."